The Society of Composers and Lyricists in NY: Joel Beckerman On the State of This Union

MIDTOWN, MANHATTAN: Want a hot Internet tip? Visit the Wikipedia page for “organization” and go to town with it, it’s such a deep topic. SonicScoop was hooked from the starting sentence, “An organization is a social arrangement which pursues collective goals, controls its own performance, and has a boundary separating it from its environment.” Useful things.

NYC has its fair share of music/sound organizations, and they’re becoming increasingly, well, ORGANIZED. Case in point is the Society of Composers and Lyricists in New York, aka The SCL in NY, which is bringing to the Big Apple the many benefits of the long-established LA HQ, headed up by SCL President Dan Foliart.

For those just getting in the know, The SCL in NY is the non-profit and primary organization for professional film, TV and video game composers and lyricists, part of a California-born society with a 60-year history.

A notable SCL in NY member is Joel Beckerman of Man Made Music, who has been setting the bar extremely high for composer achievement in New York City. His sonic branding expertise has made him the sound of campaigns for the likes of ESPN, CBS, HBO, Showtime, A&E, The Superbowl, FX  “Has the Movies”, CBS Evening News With Katie Couric, Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations”, MSG Network, and CBS’s Inauguration Coverage.

Beckerman, an SCL Board Member & head of The SCL in NY Steering Committee, has also won the ASCAP “Most Performed Compositions on Television” for four years in a row. He explained to SonicScoop why he joined The SCL and helped bring it to NY.

Q: Joel, you clearly don’t need to make new connections at this second – so why did you join this organization?

A: The thing I think is so unique about the SCL is that it’s not necessarily about anybody’s individual career. What’s interesting about us is that we have Hans Zimmer, Carter Burwell, and young students who as members are equals in the eyes of the organization. So the SCL is a level playing field for people – that’s what’s special.

Q: Go team! What is attracting you, and your membership, to get started with the SCL in NY?

A: There are a number of reasons we’re involved in this. I think we all find ourselves composing, writing and recording music in virtual isolation. We’re in our studios, in this vacuum of writing and composition. Most of us have a lot of friends and colleagues that do the same thing. We rarely get a chance to see each other, let alone talk, and there’s so much changing about what we do now.

There are issues about digital rights, in terms of performance royalties, of us being able to make a living and do what we do. There are changes happening in music distribution for those who write for film, video games and Broadway. There’s all this crossover in distribution channels on how this music gets played, and there’s so much to learn from that, in terms of creative perspective.

Joel Beckerman

So much is changing from a business perspective in terms of how we all get compensated. It’s a brave new world, and there are all types of financial pressures in terms of synch (license) money, because there’s financial pressures on studios, networks and clients to keep those dollars really small.

We’re all trying to figure this stuff out, and I think the SCL gives us an amazing opportunity to learn all these things better, have a dialogue about it, find solutions and evolve the state of the art.

Q: What are some examples of that?
A: The 2009 SCL in NY events, like the “Broadway Confidential” live interview with the theater/film composer Jeanine Tesori, who’s obviously a fantastic artist, and we learn so much about her creative processes. And the Jimmy Webb performance and interview on “The Art of Songwriting”, I’m thinking about in particular.

It’s all these events where literally there are people who change the face of what we do – hearing from those creators and not feeling so alone in what we’re doing, when we’re off in the corner making our music.

So if you had to define it in one word: Community.

Q: Sounds like you guys have a few things in common with SonicScoop! So who reading this should be thinking about joining the SCL in NY?
A: The membership in LA is huge, about 2,000 members, so obviously we’re just getting started in NYC. The members fall in a few different groups: One is composers who have had long, illustrious careers in film, TV, video games, Broadway and Advertising.

But also equally there are people who are just getting started, and SCL membership is incredibly inexpensive. There’s a big mission within the SCL of people interning with well-known composers. So it’s people with long careers, people just starting their careers, and everyone in between. Lyricists as well, are people we want to reach out to more as we go along.

Also every one of these media has a strong place and a strong history for great songwriting, and there too we hope to attract members.

Q: Great! What’s the NYC spin?
A: The steering committee is really highlighting all of the great artists that are here in NYC, and deal with issues that are specific to NY composers and lyricists in media.

There’s a great commonality between LA and NYC composers and lyricists, but there are some distinct differences. I’d dare say there’s more indie film that comes from NYC, so we’re trying to create events that really speak to that genre, and those people who are creating music for independent film. There may also be a bit more advertising.

In NYC, the biggest distinction is a greater number of vibrant communities. The events we put on deal with the diversity in NYC regarding TV, film, video games, Broadway and advertising.

I have a studio in NYC, and a studio in LA. But my home base is in NYC, and that’s because there’s a certain energy I get from being with NYC musicians, collaborating with people. I feed off that community, and I want that community to be as strong and vibrant as it can be, because I draw creative ideas from it. It’s part of what I do. I also believe really strongly that what’s critical is not what any one of us is doing, but that each one of us is raising the state of our art.

Directors, music supervisors, studio executives, network executives — nobody operates in a vacuum. Everyone operates in this ecosystem which is a vital, creative part of making the art that we make. I just can’t think of anything that’s more important. – David Weiss

To join the SCL or for further information visit http://www.TheSCL.com or email ExecDir@TheSCL.com.

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